Royal Opera House » The A-Z of Richard Strauss: D is for Dresden2016-12-09T12:21:00ZWordPressGavin Plumleyhttp://www.roh.org.uk/?p=278982014-05-19T15:20:41Z2014-03-04T13:40:45ZThe Dresden Bombing, February 1945

Though Richard Strauss was raised in Munich and found his calling in Berlin, Dresden - the capital of the state of Saxony - was the city that was perhaps dearest to him.

Strauss adored Dresden’s baroque cityscapes, as well as its justly famous orchestra, the Staatskapelle. And the city was perfectly placed geographically, pulling people from across Central Europe to hear Strauss’s new operas. Indeed their appeal was so potent that a special train was laid on from Berlin to Dresden for the premiere of Der Rosenkavalier in 1911. When Allied bombers destroyed the Saxon capital in February 1945, Strauss was distraught and it is believed that the razing of his three favourite cities - Munich, Dresden and Vienna - that prompted the composition of Metamorphosen in 1945.